Independent-needle circular knitting machine



March 13, 1956 c, MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I U 1 Inventor March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE m 0 M w w w .W d M. S 3 O )0 mm 8 M 6 a Q J 7 8 1 r s L a 7 m mm M W J U 7 M a WE v @u a I 4 n d n 2 fl n V "n I A2 n w i i f b w m 3 i 9 m I 8 k F M J 4 u a ,5 e, 4 V x f i l i l l I. e fi -7 8 7 7 Ir 4 m Q a r r J 6 \\5 3 w m i i a a I v. q S d I u n I i Filed April 1 1950 March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 F/GZ.

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March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENTNEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 F/GS.

March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 a Inventor (Dumb/a Fmhnicfi Wang w March 13, 1956 c. F. MANGER 2,737,793

INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 1, 1950 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 United States Patent INDEPENDENT-NEEDLE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Charles Frederick Manger, Leicester, England, assignor to The Bentley Engineering Company Limited, Leicester, England Application April 1, 1950, Serial No. 153,348 Claims priority, application Great Britain April 5, 194-9 5 Claims. (Cl. 66-14) This invention concerns circular knitting machines employing independent needles and primarily those machines commonly known as seamless hose and half-hose machines. A specific object of the invention is to overcome or minimise certain difficulties, hereinafter discussed, that arise in seamless hose or half-hose machines constructed and arranged to make patterned fabric with the fabric extending from the leg past the heel into the foot top. When knitting the heel on such machines it is usual to raise the instep needles to a high inactive level (above the clearing height) while the heel needles knit the heel by oscillation or, as it is commonly termed, reciprocation. At the end of the heel, as the machine changes over from oscillation to rotation, the cleared instep needles are lowered into the knitting track before they reach the knitting zone. It has been found to be desirable, when a portion of the pattern produced in the leg is also required to appear in the instep immediately after the heel has been knitted, that this pattern or a part of it shall appear in the first course of rotary knitting after the heel. The fact that the instep needles resume the knitting track with their loops already cleared renders this desideratum difiicult to achieve. For example in patterning by wrap striping according to U. S. Patent 2,643,751 dated March 8, 1949, and U. S. patent applications Nos. 694,731, now U. S. Patent 2,612,- 032 and 694,732 (abandoned) dated September 4, 1946, the wrap thread must be applied to the needles that are to receive it, at a stage prior to that at which they clear their old loops. A specific object of this invention is to so arrange'matters that the method of and apparatus for wrap striping forming the subject of these patent applications is applicable to a seamless hose or half-hose machine in such manner that the wrap pattern appears in the first course of rotary knitting (of the instep or foot top) that follows the production of the heel, thereby avoiding that slight interruption in the pattern that would otherwise result from the formation of this course entirely from unpatterned stitches.

The invention therefore provides in a circular knitting machine having at least one needle bed for the reception of a circle of independent needles capable of subdivision into two main groups, viz. a pouch or heel group and a group which for the sake of convenience is termed an instep group, and is constructed and arranged to knit at times by rotary motion on needles of the two groups and at times by oscillation in the production of a pouch on the pouch needles; needle-dividing means, operable upon the change over from rotation to oscillation preparatory to knitting the pouch, for directing instep needles in the said bed into a low inactive track wherein they hold their uncleared loops during the production of the pouch, mechanism for shaping the pouch by effecting a progressive exchange of end needles of the pouching group between the knitting track and a high inactive track, in the said bed, in which inactive track they hold their loops, and means operable upon the change over to rotary knitting upon the completion of the pouch to return the instep needles from the low track to the knitting track. The ex- 2,737,793 Patented Mar. 13, 1956 ice pressions high and low are employed herein in the sense that the needles or other instrument-s pursuing the high track are projected and those pursuing the low track are retracted in their bed. In this connection it may be said that in the case of a knitting machine having a single vertically-disposed needle cylinder, and in the case of the lower or plain cylinder of a machine having superimposed needle cylinders, the high track is in fact above the low track, but in the case of the upper or rib cylinder of a superimposed needle cylinder machine the high track is in fact below the low track for the reason that the projection of the rib needles is in the downward direction.

It will readily be appreciated that the diversion of the instep needles into a low inactive track permits them to retain their loops in the non-cleared position so that when introduced into knitting activity selected needles may have a wrap striping thread applied to them before they are cleared with the result that wrap threads are incorporated in the first course of rotary knitting. However, while the arrangement specified is of particular utility in connection with wrap striping, it also simplifies other forms of patterning (for example, selective tuck-stitch patterning, and plating) and therefore according to a subsidiary feature of the invention, the machine is equipped with needle-selecting mechanism for selecting needles from among the instep group, for patterning purposes, before they clear at the resumption of rotary knitting, and means for effecting the patterning on the selected needles in the first course of the resumed rotary knitting.

It is undesirable that, in each oscillation or swing of the needle bed during the production of the pouch, the inactive instep needles shall be depressed to the knockingover level by a stitch cam which normally operates them during rotary knitting for this depression would result in the elongation of the loops held by these needles, thereby producing a visible course-wise line in the fabric. Therefore according to an important feature of the invention the machine is provided, in combination, with a stitch cam cperable on the needles during rotary knitting, means for rendering such stitch cam inoperative to lower the low inactive needles during the production of the pouch, and two additional opposed stitch cams for operating during the production of the pouch by oscillation. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that one of these additional stitch cams operates during a swing in one direction and the other operates during a swing in the other direction.

While in the case of a machine having all its needles mounted in one cylinder, all the instep needles are re tained in the low inactive track while the pouch is being knitted yet this is not necessarily so in the case of a rib knitting machine of the type constructed and arranged to knit a pouch by oscillation and having two opposed needle cylinders equipped with sliders for operating doubleended needles that may be transferred by the sliders from one cylinder to the other to change the structure of the fabric (e. g. to change over between rib and plain fabric or to change from a narrow to a broad rib or vice versa) said machine being arranged to produce rib fabric before and after the pouch. In such a machine the pouch needles are all in one cylinder (the plain cylinder) during the production of the pouch, or one of the pouches (e. g. the heel pouch) and, considering the inactive instep needles, the plain needles are in the plain cylinder but the ribbed needles are in the other, or rib, cylinder. Therefore according to a feature of this invention it is only plain instep needles that are directed to the low inactive track, this track being in the plain cylinder.

This permits of a further important feature of this invention: that during the knitting of the pouch on a latch-needle machine of the superimposed cylinder type specified above, the sliders opposite the rib needles travel in a high track, in the plain cylinder, wherein they serve to hold open and protect the latches of the rib needles. in a machine wherein the plain needles are grouped in small panels, or sub-groups, and wrap-striping mechanism is provided for producing wrap stripe patterns in the plain panels, the lowered plain needles afford room for the movements of the wrap strips fingers at the first course after the heel and neither the rib needles nor the sliders that are opposite them in the plain cylinder obstruct these movements because said rib needles and sliders are located between the panels.

The diversion of the sliders corresponding to the inactive instep needles into the low track has the further advantage that it permits of the following important feature of this invention as applied to a machine of the superimposed cylinder type specified, viz. in each cylinder those sliders that relate to the instep needles follow high and low tracks in their respective cylinders as follows: in the first or plain cylinder those engaged with the plain needles follow the low inactive track and those opposite the rib needles follow the high inactive track, and in the other or rib cylinder those engaged with the rib needles follow the high inactive track and those opposite the plain needles follow the low inactive track. It will therefore be appreciated that the rib needles, and the sliders opposite them in the plain cylinder, are projected and the plain needles, and the sliders opposite them in the rib cylinder, are retracted. The advantage of this disposition is hereinafter pointed out.

The foregoing and other features of this invention (including the method of knitting) that are defined in the appended claims are incorporated in and practiced on the circular knitting machine of the superimposed cylinder type specified that will now be described as an example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figures 1 and 1A together constitute a view of the interior of the cam boxes showing in addition to the usual main stitch cams, two cams for acting on the third butt of the heel sliders in the bottom cylinder, the cams for acting on the butts of the selectors to cause needles to be raised to receive wrap yarn, a diagrammatic view of the opening through which the wrap fingers are projected, showing its position in relation to the various cams, and also a view of two typical sliders, a needle, a makeup piece or bit and two selectors;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view looking on the outside of the stitch-cam section of the bottom, or plain, cambox showing, in addition to the usual means for altering the height of the stitch carns, an additional control (indicated by thicker lines) to given independent movement to one of the stitch cams.

Figure 3 is an inside view of the stitch-cam section showing the stitch cam which has the independent movement;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 i a diagram looking down through the top of the machine showing the disposition of the slider butts in the top cylinder, for a typical broad-rib article, in which the outer circle represents the normal knitting butts (such as 4 in Fig. 1A) and the inner circle represents the transfer butts (such as 6 in Fig. 1A);

Figure 6 is a diagram, also looking down through the top of the machine, showing the disposition of the slider butts in the bottom cylinder, for the same typical broadrib article, in which the outside circle represents the normal knitting butts (such as 5 in Fig. 1A), the middle circle represents the transfer butts (such as 7 in Fig. 1A) and the inside circle represents the third butt (shown as 8 in Fig. 1A) as can be seen every slider in the heel half only has this third butt.

Figure 7 is a sectional elevation taken on a substantially radial plane through the upper needle cylinder and cam box and show the wrap striping mechamsm;

Figure 8 is a plan illustrating the wrap striping op eration;

Figures 9 and 10 show details of the wrap striping mechanism, and

Figure 11 is an elevation, to some extent diagrammatic; showing a wrap thread being applied to the middle needle of a group of seven needles, the said group of seven needles being the first needles of the instep half to knit after knitting the heel, also a side elevation of two of the sliders and a needle.

This machine has superimposed needle cylinders 50, 51 equipped with double-ended latch needles 1 shown in Figure 1, operable by sliders (of which 2 and 3 are typical examples) in the top (rib) and bottom (plain) cylinders 50, 51 respectively (a representative yarn feeder is indicated at in Figure 8). All the sliders have knitting butts such as 4 and 5 in Figure 1A on which knitting cams (in the top and bottom cam boxes 52, 53 respectively) operate, and some or all of them have transfer butts such as 6 and 7 on which transfer cams operate. The sliders 3 in the bottom cylinder 51 comprise sliders 3a beneath the instep needles and sliders 3b beneath the heel needles. The instep sliders 3a have knitting butts 5 (indicated at SI and 5m in the lower half of Figure 6) and the heel sliders 3/) have knitting butts (indicated at SS and 5m in the top half of Figure 6). In addition, each heel slider 3b has a third butt 8, Figures 1 and 6, this third butt 8 is situated as shown below the transfer butt 7. The arrangement of the knitting butts SI, 5m of the instep bottom sliders 3a is determined by the rib structure required; the same remark also applies to the arrangement of the knitting butts 4l, 4m (hereinafter referred to) of the instep top sliders.

The machine has the usual opposed stitch cams 9 and 10, Figure 1A, for the plain cylinder 51, one of which 9 operates on the knitting butts 5 of all sliders 3 during rotary knitting. There is also provided a pair of opposed stitch earns 11 and 12, Figure 1A which are arranged to operate on the third butts 8 during the production of the pouch, and also a pair of raising cams 13 and 14, Figure 1A, one following each of the additional stitch cams 11 and 12. That stitch cam 9 which operates on the normal knitting butts 5 during rotary knitting, stitch cam 10 and the two additional stitch earns 11 and 12 which operate on the third butts 8 of the heel sliders, are mounted as a unit as shown in Figure 3 so that they can be raised and lowered to vary the stitch length. In Figures 2, 3 and 4 the shell 21 carrying the cams 9, 10, 11, 12 and 22 is constructed to slide on the block 23 which is firmly attached to the bottom cambox plate (not shown). The shell 21 is shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4 in its lowest position, the lever 24 depressing the pin 25 which in turn depresses the shell 21 against the action of the springs 26 which are anchored at their lower ends to hooks 27 in the shell 21 and at their upper ends to the hooks 28; the hooks 28 are screwed into the bracket 29 which is rigidly attached to the block 23.

The normal rotary stitch cam 9 has an additional control by which it can be raised and lowered relatively to the additional stitch cams 11 and 12. This is shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, where by sliding the camming piece 15 horizontally forward the shaped end 16 depresses the screw or pin 17 against the action of the spring 18. This pin 17 extends through a slot 20 in the shell 21 and is screwed or riveted into the slide block 19, Figures 3 and 4, to which the cam 9 is attached. Thus when the pin 17 is depressed it moves down the slot 20 and so depresses the slide block 19 carrying the stitch cam 9. The camming piece 15 is moved slidably in the slot formed in the shell 21 (indicated at 36, Figure 4) by the link 31 which in tum is moved from the main control drum. As can be seen the link 31 is pivotally connected at 32 to the camming piece 15 as this camming piece is frequently raised and lowered together with the shell 21.

When knitting by rotation the normal stitch cam 9 is so set by the additional control 15, 16 etc. that it operates on the knitting butts 5, Figure 1A, of all sliders 3 in the lower cylinder 51, and the third butts 8 of the heel sliders 3b are not operated on by that additional stitch cam 11 Figure 3 which is directly below it. At the beginning of the heel the sliders of all instep needles which do not knit their stitches on the instep, having been lowered to knock over by the normal stitch cam 9, are retained in a low inactive track indicated by the dotted line m, Figures 1 and 1A, wherein they hold their last formed loops (preferably in or near their hooks) and the machine changes over to oscillation. At the same time the normal stitch cam 9 is raised (by the additional control 15, 16 etc.) relatively to the additional stitch cams 11 and 12 so that it ceases to act on the knitting butts 5, associated with the heel needles, and the heel needles are operated to knit by engagement of the third butts 8 of their sliders 3b with the additional stitch earns 11 and 12.

It therefore follows that since the sliders 3a associated in the bottom cylinder 51 with the instep needles are not provided with these third butts the said instep needles are not drawn down to the knocking-over level but their sliders continue in their low inactive track In slightly above the knocking-over level, with the advantages hereinbefore discussed.

During the production of the pouch, sliders of needles,

of the heel group are raised progressively to the usual high inactive loop-holding track indicated by the chaindotted line n, Figures 1 and 1A, by the pickers 57a, 5712, Figure 1A, or their equivalent, and then progressively lowered therefrom into activity by the picker 56, Figure 1, or its equivalent, so as to shape the heel in known manner.

If the leg is produced with rib fabric which is continued into the instep, then during the production of the heel the instep plain needles are held in the lower cylinder 51 and their sliders pass along the low inactive track in but the instep rib needles are held in the top cylinder 50. It is desirable to hold the latches of these rib needles open and to protect them, and for this reason the sliders 3 of the bottom cylinder that are opposite the rib needles are raised at the beginning of the heel to the aforesaid high inactive track It in which their knitting butts 5m pursue the same course as do the knitting butts 5s, 5m of the sliders of the high inactive heel needles and which is such that their upper ends 32 in Figure 1A hold open and protect the latches of the rib needles.

To effect the diversion of the instep sliders 3av of the bottom cylinder 51 into the two tracks m and it those which are opposite the rib needles are provided with I long knitting butts 51 in Figure 6, and those which are between the rib panels in the instep group are provided with medium length knitting butts 5m, while of the knitting butts 5 of the sliders 3b of the heel group some (5m' in Figure 6) are medium length and some (5s) are short. The group of short butts 5s are provided if a draw thread is required (such as described in British patent specification No. 400,623).

In the upper cylinder 50, the sliders 2 which carry the rib needles of the instep group are provided with long knitting butts 4! and those which occur between the rib panels of the instep (i. e. being opposite the plain instep needles of the lower cylinder) have medium length butts 4m; the top sliders 2 of the heel group have butts 4 as indicated at 4s and 41 in Figure 5.

During the production of the heel it is required that all the sliders 2 in the top cylinder 50, excepting those (having butts 4m, Figure 5) which are located between the rib panels of the instep half, are diverted to the high inactive track (i. e. in which they are projected towards the bottom cylinder 51) indicated by the chain-dotted line 1", Figures 1 and 1A. This is achieved in the following manner. Prior to the commencement of the heel, the knitting butts 4 of all the top sliders 2 travel down the welt bolt-cam 33, Figure 1A. At the commencement of waives the heel the bolt cam 34 moves out sufficiently to miss the short butts 4s (Figure 5) allowing them to remain in the high inactive track r, Figure l, but the remaining medium butts 4m and long butts 4l and 41' are taken up into track p, but now the welt cam 33 has moved out sufiiciently to miss the medium butts 4m and thus only diverts the long butts 4! and 41 back again into the track r where they remain together with the short butts 4s (the heel bolt cam 34 having now moved out to miss the long butts) for the duration of the heel. It will thus be seen that those top instep sliders 2 (with butts 4m) which are located between the rib panels are elevated so that they are out of the way of the wrap fingers 54, 54a, hereinafter referred to, when the latter are projected to apply wrap threads to selected needles of the instep plain sub-groups for the first course of rotary knitting after the heel.

Having now described the manner and the means by which the upper cylinder sliders 2 are directed into their appropriate tracks for the knitting of the heel it is convenient now to consider in similar fashion the activities of the bottom cylinder sliders 3. During the knitting of the leg and just prior to the forming of the heel pouch all the sliders 3 are in the usual knitting track, that is all the sliders travel down the normal stitch cam 9, Figure 1A, and are raised to a height less than clearing height by the bolt cam 45 which is right in. At the commencement of the heel it is required that the sliders are split into three different tracks i. e. track m, track )1, and the normal knitting track. To achieve this the bolt cam 45 is required to be withdrawn. Now if Figure 1A is referred to, it will be seen that the cam 14 serves the same purpose as bolt cam 45 excepting for the fact that it only raises those sliders 3b having the third butt 8. Therefore it is obvious that bolt cam 45 can be withdrawn as the heel half sliders 3b (which have this third butt 8) are travelling up cam 14. Bolt cam 45 is withdrawn sutficiently to miss the medium butts 5m, 5m and bolt cam 46 now moves right in; thus it can be seen that the heel half sliders 3b which are composed of sliders with short butts 5s and medium butts 5m, Figure 6, will all be raised by virtue of their butts 8, Figure 1A, to engage bolt cam 46 with their normal knitting butts 5's, 5m. They then follow track y, Figure 1A, past bolt cam 47 (which remains withdrawn during all the proceedings described here) and then on to knit (or be picked up to and down from track n) in the normal manner of knitting the heel.

Now the instep half sliders 3a are divided into the two idle tracks m and n, Figure l, the long butts Sl, Figure 6, travelling up bolt cams 45, 46, along track y, and finally up cam 48 (shown chain-dotted in its up position) to track n. This cam 48 is so constructed that it can only raise long butts 51. The medium butts 5m, 5m, Figure 6, remain in the low track m (the bolt cam 45 being set to take long butts only).

If reference is made to Figure 11 the various heights of the sliders can be seen whilst wrapping takes place in the first instep course after knitting the heel. The six sliders grouped by bracket M are the last of the heel half sliders 3b, and the side elevation of the sliders 2, 3 and needles 1 shows clearly how the upper cylinder slider 2 (which is in the track 1', Figures 1 and 1A) guards the latch of the needle. The panel of seven plain needles grouped by bracket M are the first needles of the in- 7 step half (their associated sliders being in track m,

Figures 1 and 1A) and the centre one of them is shown receiving the wrap thread 55 from the wrap finger 54.

The top slider 2 immediately above this panel M of seven needles are raised (their butts 4 being in track p, Figures 1 and 1A) to allow the wrap fingers 54, 54a to be projected across the needle circle.

The three sliders 3a grouped by bracket L in Figure 11 are shown as in track it, Figures 1 and 1A. It will be remembered that during the knitting of the heel those bottom instep sliders 3a which have butts 51 are raised to guard the latches of the rib needles which are held in the top cylinder 50. Thus the three sliders of group L are still in track 11, Figures 1 and 1A, until they reach the cam 43 which will bring them down into the knitting track where they will knit at the main stitch cam 9, Figure 1A.

In Figure 11 the number 44- is applied to the trick pieces which provide a draw edge when knitting ribbed fabric, 44a indicates their position when raised to provide an opening for the wrap fingers as described in British patent specification No. 594,903.

The wrap striping is effected by the method and apparatus forming the subject of U. S. Patent 2,643,751, dated March 8, 1949, and U. S. patent applications Nos. 694,731 and 694,732 dated September 4, 1946, to which reference is to be made for further particulars. A pair of wrap fingers 54, 54a is provided in association with each panel of needles which are to knit the plain wales through-out the leg and instep and of these panels that shown at M in Figure 11 is representative. The wrap threads 55, 55a are applied in the wrapping zone embraced by the bracket 58' in Figures 1 and 1A, at a stage before the needles clear their loops after having knitted at feeder 90 and descended the stitch cam 9. For this purpose the cam 45 is withdrawn; selected needles that are to receive the first wrap thread 55 are raised to a height less than clearing height by means of cam 39, and, after having received the wrap thread in a manner subsequently described, are lowered to a track 112 by cam 59. Those needles which are to receive the second wrap thread 55a are raised to a height less than clearing height by a cam 39a and subsequently are elevated by cam 60 to the normal knitting track. Those needles which took the wrap thread 55 and were lowered by cam 59 to miss wrap thread 55a are raised (together with all non-wrap needles) to meet cam 60 by cam 61.

For the purpose of producing these needle movements, each needle in the plain panels has beneath its slider 3 a make-up piece or hit 41 having a butt 62, and selector jacks 40 and 49a having butts 63 and 63a. Butts 62 are operated on by the cam 61 and the butts 63 and 63a are operated on by the earns 39 and 39a respectively. Any suitable selecting mechanism such as is indicated at 64 may be provided for causing selected ones of the butts 63, 63a to be engaged by the earns 39, 39a.

It may here be pointed out that, since in last course before the heel all the plain instep needles (such as are illustrated in panel M) descend stitch cam 9 into the inactive track m and retain their loops throughout the heel without ever being raised to clearing height, these instep needles are in condition at the end of the heel to be selected to receive wrap threads in the first course after the heel before being cleared. Thus the wrap pattern is present in the last and first course of rotary knitting, and is not interrupted for a single course. It is also to be observed that this wrap pattern is (owing to the fact that any of the needles in a panel M may be selected in any course to take one or both of the wrap threads) characterised by the fact that one and the same wrap thread appears in a plurality of loops of one and the same course, and if these loops are spaced apart, the wrap thread floats course-wise at the back of the fabric over the intervening loops or loops.

Turning now to Figures 7, 8, 9, and the wrap striping fingers 54, 54a are mounted in tricks in a carrier-64 within the top needle cylinder 50 in such a manner as to rock about a fulcrum point 65. The fingers hang down inside a stationary sleeve 79 which, at the wrapping zone 58, is cut with a window 58. A separator 80 extends across the bottom of this window, in the direction in which the needle cylinder revolves; the free end of this separator 80 is located approximately above the stitch cam 9. Rocking movement of the fingers carries their thread feeding lower extremities across the needle circle, within the window 58, and above the separator which therefore holds the wrap loops above and separate from the loops of the previous course until the wrap loops slide of the separator upon arrival at the knitting point. Thus the wrap loops are prevented from being cleared in the course in which they are laid. The rocking movement of the wrappings is effected sclectively by patterning mechanism 66 acting on butts 67 above the fulcrum 65. It is also necessary to cause the ends of the fingers to travel along the needle line, both inside and outside the needle circle, so as to wrap the selected needles. The fingers 54, 54a, have reinforcements 68, 68a attached to them and that of finger 54 is provided with a cam face or incline at 69. The cam face is arranged to be engaged by a sliding member 70 mounted in the carrier 64 said sliding member being provided with butt 71 operated on by the earns 72, 73. When the member '70 is lowered, the finger 54 is defiected against its own resilience and at a time when its bottom end is still within the needle circle to travel in the direction of rotation of the needle cylinders 50, 51. It carries with it the other wrap finger 54a so that both fingers overtake the group of needles with which they are associated. In their movement, they depress a spring catch 74 located inside the needle circle in the top of a stationary dial 75, and when they reach the leading end of the group of needles this catch springs up and prevents their return. The finger 54 is then projected across the needle circle by operation of the selecting mechanism 66. This movement releases it from the catch 74 and its own resilience then tends to cause it to spring back towards its starting position. However, this return movement is prevented because it engages an abutment 76 located outside the needle circle and which in effect holds the finger 54 stationary while the needles revolve past it. As the finger 54 thus lags behind the needles the wrap thread 55 is laid (above separator 80) across the front of any needle which is raised to receive it. Rotation of the needle cylinders eventually carries the finger 54 away from the abutment 76 at a time when the heel 78 of the finger (which heel always remains inside the needle circle) engages a stationary stop 77 on dial 75. The finger 54 is thereupon swung inwards across the needle circle.

The second finger 54a is treated in a similar manner being swung out after finger 54 to engage another abutment 760. It is to be noted that the stop 77 is formed with a rebate 79 into which the heel 78 of finger 54 moves in the final stages of retraction of the latter, so as to leave stop 77 vacant ready for finger 54a. The cams for moving the trick pieces 44 are shown in Figure 1A. Each piece is cut with two gaps 81, 82; in the lowered position of the trick piece, guard rib 83 is received in gap 81, and in the raised position the cam 83 is received in gap 82. The butts 84 between these two gaps are of contrasting lengths, so that by operation of bolt cam 85 at an interruption 87 in guard rib 83 the required members 44 may be raised from their low to their high position before arrival at the wrapping zone 58: the members 44 are lowered from their high to their low position by the action of cam 86 on their top butts 88. The lowered members 44 are given a slight downward movement at the knitting point by cam 89, so that the rib loops are drawn over their lower edges.

The various control mechanisms by which the movable cams and other parts of the machine are controlled are not shown in the accompanying drawings for, being of a conventional character and well understood in the art, they need no description or illustration herein.

I claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the opposed needle cylinder type, constructed and arranged to produce an article of footwear with a rotary-knitted ribbed leg and instep and a plain heel pouch knitted by oscillation, having two opposed needle cylinders, viz. a rib cylinder and a plain cylinder, equipped with double-ended latch needles and with sliders for operating them in knitting and for transferring them from cue cylinder to the other to change the character of the fabric, and cams for operating on the sliders to cause the needles to knit and to cause the needles to be transferred, which cams and sliders are so arranged that during the knitting of the leg and instep the needles are divided into sub-groups of plain needles in the plain cylinder and sub-groups of rib needles in the rib cylinder but, for knitting the heel, the needles are divided into a main group of pouching or heel needles in the plain cylinder and a main group of instep needles itself consisting of sub-groups as aforesaid, said machine being arranged to change over from rotation to oscillation at the commencement of the heel pouch and back to rotation at the end of it; means, operable on the changeover from rotation to oscillation to knit the pouch, for directing plain instep needles in the plain cylinder into a low inactive track wherein they hold their loops uncleared during the production of the pouch, and for causing sliders opposite needles of the rib sub-groups to travel in a high track, in the plain cylinder, wherein they serve to hold open and protect the latches of the last-said needles, mechanism for shaping the pouch by elfecting .a progressive exchange of end needles of the heelgroup between a knitting track and a high inactive track, in the plain cylinder, in which high inactive track they hold their loops, means operable upon the completion of the pouch to return the instep needles to knitting activity, a stitch cam operable on the needles during rotary knitting, means for rendering such stich cam inoperative to lower the low inactive needles during the production of the pouch, and two additional opposed stitch cams for operating during the production of the pouch by oscillation.

2. A machine according to claim 1 having needle Selecting mechanism for selecting needles from among the instep group, for patterning purposes, before they clear at the resumption of rotary knitting, means for elfecting the patterning on the selected needles in the first course of the resumed rotary knitting, and wherein the patterning means is a wrapstriping mechanism and wherein the plain needles are grouped in small panels, and the wrap striping mechanism is arranged to produce wrap stripe patterns in the plain panels and comprises wrap stripe fingers for supplying wrap thread to the lowered plain needles of said panels in the first course after the pouch.

3. A machine according to claim 2 having at least one pair of wrap fingers with thread feeding ends, and mechanism for causing their ends one after another to make a wrapping traverse past one and the same group of needles comprised in a plain panel.

4. In a circular knitting machine of the opposed needle cylinder type, constructed and arranged to produce an article of footwear with a rotary-knitted ribbed leg and 10 instep and a plain heel pouch knitted by oscillation, hav ing two opposed needle cylinders, viz. a rib cylinder and a plain cylinder, equipped with double-ended latch needles and with sliders for operating them in knitting and for transferring them from one cylinder to the other to change the character of the fabric, and cams for operating on the sliders to cause the needles to knit and to cause the needles to be transferred, which cams and sliders are so arranged that during the knitting of the leg and instep the needles are divided into sub-groups of plain needles in the plain cylinder and sub-groups of rib needles in the rib cylinder but, for knitting the heel, the needles are divided into a main group of pouching or heel needles in the plain cylinder and a'main group of instep needles itself consisting of sub-groups as aforesaid, said machine being arranged to change over from rotation to oscillation at the commencement of the heel pouch and back to rotation at the end of it; means, operable on the change over from rotation to oscillation to knit the pouch, for directing slid-, ers relating to the instep needles into high and low tracks in their respective cylinders as follows: in the plain cylinder those engaging with the plain instep needles follow a low inactive track wherein said needles hold their loops uncleared and the sliders opposite the rib needles follow a high inactive track, and in the rib cylinder the sliders engaged with the rib needles follow a high inactive track and those opposite the plain needles follow a low inactive track; mechanism for shaping the pouch by eflecting a progressive exchange of end needles of the heel group between a knitting track and a high inactive track, in the plain cylinder, in which high inactive track they hold their loops, means operable upon the completion of the pouch to return the instep needles to knitting activity, a stitch cam operable on the needles during rotary knitting, means for rendering such stitch cam inoperative to lower the low inactive needles during the production of the pouch, and two additional opposed stitch cams for operating during the production of the pouch by oscillation.

5. A machine according to claim 4 having a separator for maintaining separate the Wrap threads on the needles from the previously-knitted loops on the needles, from the position at which the wrap threads are applied, to the knitting point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,313,642 Holmes et al Mar. 9, 1943 2,358,641 Holmes et a1. Sept. 19, 1944 2,408,698 Smith Oct. 1, 1946 2,412,248 Bristow Dec. 10, 1946 2,412,267 Holmes et a1 Dec. 10, 1946 2,421,817 Thurston et a1 June 10, 1947 2,463,751 Deans et a1 Mar. 8, 1949 2,464,126 Fregeolle Mar. 8, 1949 2,468,668 Holmes Apr. 26, 1949 2,555,870 Bristow June 5, 1951 

